Hawkeye tennis freshmen shine in fall debut
Iowa freshmen Oliver Okonkwo and Nikita Snezhko began their Hawkeye career strong playing their first tournament in Indiana.
Iowa players meet with head coach Ross Wilson between matches during the Iowa/Creighton tennis match at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. The Hawkeyes defeated the Bluejays, 7-0.
October 7, 2018
Four Iowa tennis players enjoyed success in their season débuts at the Bobby Bayliss Invitational on Oct. 6 and 7.
Jason Kerst, Morgan Lohan, Oliver Okonkwo, and Nikita Snezhko all notched some wins playing on the campus of Notre Dame.
Although every Iowa tennis player had some type of success, Snezhko shone the most in his first couple of matches.
He finished his first college matches going 3-1 in singles, including an impressive victory in a third set tiebreaker win over Nebraska’s John Meyer (5-7, 6-4, 10-5). However, on the doubles side of the tournament, Snezhko had less luck, winning one of three matches with freshman partner Okonkwo.
The other Hawkeyes finished the singles portion of the tournament at 2-2.
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This was the type of experience the Iowa men’s tennis team needed. Iowa’s fall season is all about learning and getting better, which is perfect for these four Hawkeyes, because they haven’t experienced much play.
If the Hawkeyes are able to continue on with strong showings that they have so far, they will be in a good position to continue the progress they made last season, when they recorded the program’s fourth most wins.
